OpenStreetMap
%{count} contribution(s) in the last year
section on the user page, should be edited. For numbers greater than four digits, periods are placed in groups of three for easier reading, but OSM user profiles have numbers that are difficult to read, such as 1234565885. If we write this as 1.234.565.885 or 1,234,565,885. The contribution counter will be easier to read.
Yesterday, I attended the OpenStreetMap Local Chapters and Communities Congress 2026 online.
There were at least 15 participants who signed the attendance list on the event’s HackMD document, representing a range of countries including the Philippines, Italy, the United States, Canada, Greece, Indonesia, Belgium, Kenya, and Brazil. The document is available publicly here.
After introductions and updates from the OpenStreetMap Foundation Board, the session moved into a group discussion titled “Challenges in OpenStreetMap and overcoming those challenges.” This discussion was conducted through Mentimeter, allowing participants to submit anonymous responses to guided questions.
Here is a (selected) summary of the discussion results:
“So many smart people. All with their strong opinions about how things should be done.”
“Dealing with abusive community members.”
This text was written by me a couple weeks ago. In the mean time I noticed that my computer struggles with the amount of data to process. That’s why I will need to use another way how to create my map. Anyway, I did not want to scrap this diary entry. I learned already a lot of things and maybe you are curious about my map, so here it is:
Like this or similar could the map look like. This mock-up was made with the QGIS GUI and OSM data downloaded over the overpass api. bigger resolution here
In this diary post, I want to show you what I am currently working on in my free time, what my motivations and inspirations were for starting the project, and what problems I have encountered. I also want to share what I have learned and what I plan to do with the project in the future.
Yesterday or the day before, Florian contacted me to see could we map hogbacks on OpenStreetMap. Short answer: Yes.
Long answer: Florian and I have spoken at two Digital Humanities conferences about citizen science and mapping and Wikidata and all that craic before, and one of our co-panellists Meagan’s doctoral thesis was about hogbacks. These are very large stones carved into the shape of very likely buildings (longhouses mostly) and date to the 10th to 12th century. They are pretty cool, to be honest. They are called hogbacks, because they also resemble the curved back of a pig, especially, when the carving is very worn and cannot be made out, which is maybe why they called them that back in the 19th century. The Vikings presumably had a far cooler name for them, but they didn’t write that down for us. Those stones were used as grave markers. (I don’t watch any of the Viking Netflix and other series, but maybe they made an appearance? Let me know in the comments - as if this was YouTube.)
Hogbacks survive or are known to have survived (who knows what might still lie undiscovered underground) in Northengland and to a lesser extent and with stylistic differences in Scotland, Cornwall (where they are called “coped stone”). One example each is known in Ireland and Wales.
Following the pattern of ogham stones for which I did go through the proposal process, Florian and I decided that we would go for the tag historic=hogback with the additional subclassification of hogback=coped_stone for the Cornish examples. I made the “executive decision” that we would be the only people mapping them anyway and that the number is so small that a proposal process would be a waste of time. I’m prepared to be judged for that.
I’ve recently learnt how to use the “Building” plugin on JOSM and it’s so slay.
Hello! I made my 1000th edit today which also just so happened to roughly coincide with the 1 year mark of my OSM journey. I have had so much fun learning about OSM and connecting with so many cool members of the community.
I started my work on OSM improving the data in my home town of Wilson Wyoming, which continues to be my main focus, although I have done some smaller projects outside of this area. It has been so rewarding to watch my work come together to create such a carefully detailed representation of its unique and beautiful geography. Through all this work I have not only deepened my passion for geographic data, I have had the pleasure of developing the understanding necessary to truly comprehend the marvel of the world’s greatest map, the open street map. I couldn’t be happier to be a part of such a remarkable feat of humanity and commendation to our planet.
In the last quarter of 2025, I was privileged to be part of the HOT Mentorship Program. I was a mentee in the third cohort, focusing on Open Community Building. I got to experience first-hand what it takes to work on an individual research project here in Kenya. My project was voluntary, but I learned a new meaning of that word through the project. According to the Oxford Learners’ Dictionary, voluntary is an adjective that refers to “actions done willingly, of one’s own accord, or by free choice, rather than being forced, paid, or compelled by law”. I understood that part very well, but I had little knowledge that free will doesn’t necessarily mean zero budget. So there was that.
What does it take to carry out a research project in Kenya?
While there is no “one size fits all” blanket that defines the needs for all projects, here are a few key points to consider before starting any project:
This post presents the results of a student project carried out by the following group: Pierrick Causeret, Humbert de Chastellux, Paul Enjalbert and Othman Ouhaddou.
This project is a follow-up of last year’s project Shade-optimized routing paths for pedestrians which introduced a shade routing calculator for OSM. Our objective was to make this project available on mobile.
We first had to choose an app or website to work on. We wanted something easy to publish for us and easy to install for potential users. It also needed to work on both Android and iOS. This excluded all apps that didn’t have plugins or ways to customize them without editing the core code. With all those constraints, we settled on OsmAnd.
The full pipeline integrates the previous project, which is the calculation of the shade percentage for each way. This information is then added in the .pbf file as a tag, and then converted to .obf for the app.
I’m new to this.
I did what most people probably do and added/adjusted footprints of houses in my neighborhood. Great but I soon noticed that there were choices to be made about what did or didn’t get included, what level of detail to go to, etc. and no really obvious source of guidance about that.
Which is probably just as well, because if there were masses of prescriptive guidance about every little thing a new user would get buried. Anyway. I settled on what seemed reasonable to me and fleshed out the neighborhood a bit. Fun.
I’m a private pilot, so I checked out my local airport to see how things looked there. It was really quite good in some respects, if a little out of date. But again since there’s no guidance the previous editors had just made reasonable assumptions and got on with it. I noticed a few taxiway connections were missing (I taxi along them regularly so I know they’re there!) and added them. Then realized that the previous editor had only been adding taxiways that correspond to the painted lines. Reasonable but in reality things are more joined up than that. Food for thought.
So I thought I would check out a large nearby airport. Whoever did this has made a different set of assumptions about what a reasonable level of detail is. Nothing wrong with them, just different.
Then I checked out Chicago O’Hare. Wow. Someone went to town here. Every single parking spot in the parking garage is individually mapped. That seems excessive (and dragged my machine to it’s knees as well). I’m sure some aggregation would be better. Never mind.
Checked out Newark. Much more reasonable level of detail here. But I suppose that depends on what you expect people to use it for. JFK is different again.
For some reason, the sidewalks near main roads in Sandy have been deleted without much warning. I just have to question what is with these changes and who is responsible for removing the work of mine and others.
Hello,
I recently noticed that Someone, Which I do not know of, Has vandalised clyst vale by Removing the entire school, and replacing it with a sainsburys, ive wrote this to alert a mod to hopefully revert the changes at clyst vale
-SouthWestTrains1
This article was originally written in French here. This English version was partly translated with DeepL.com.
OpenArdenneMap is an open-source map style designed for the production of topographic maps for printing. Based on OpenStreetMap data, it is available for use with QGIS and the Mapnik/cartoCSS libraries. Here is the winter 2025–26 release.
I started working on OpenArdenneMap about nine years ago. My aim was to create a map style for producing high-quality topographic maps intended for printing, using mainly OpenStreetMap data. The main challenge is to automate map production, to limit ‘manual’ corrections as much as possible (without eliminating them entirely). Since then, the style has been used in several mapping projects: together with colleagues, I have set up a website for downloading hiking maps (hiking.osm.be) and have been able to test the deployment of a tile server on https://www.nobohan.be/webmaps/oam-tile/.
One of the most memorable phases of my OpenStreetMap journey was being part of the Autumn Mapping Sprint 2025, sponsored by Youth Innovation Lab. This was a funded mapping sprint that lasted for one full month, making it both exciting and challenging at the same time.
What made this experience even more intense was that, during the very same month, I was also involved in a one-month field campaign in Dolakha district as part of my studies. Managing both at the same time was not easy.
My days were filled with fieldwork—collecting data, traveling, and completing academic responsibilities. And yet, despite the physical exhaustion, I stayed committed to mapping. Every evening, I tried to make time—sometimes small, sometimes longer—to contribute to the sprint. It required discipline, time management, and a lot of determination.
There were moments when I felt overwhelmed, but I didn’t want to give up. Being part of a funded program and representing myself among advanced mappers motivated me to keep going. I reminded myself why I started this journey and how far I had already come.
Throughout the month, I continued mapping—adding buildings, improving roads, and refining data with care. Even with a busy schedule, I managed to stay consistent and complete my contributions.
Being recognized as one of the advanced mappers during this sprint made the experience even more meaningful. It wasn’t just about mapping anymore—it was about proving to myself that I could handle challenges and still stay committed to my goals.
Looking back, this month feels like a true test of my dedication. Balancing fieldwork and mapping taught me resilience, time management, and self-belief.
This experience showed me that no matter how busy life gets, with determination and passion, I can always find a way to keep going.
Looking back at my OpenStreetMap journey, two dates will always hold a very special place in my heart—June 21 and October 14.
On June 21, I achieved something I had been working toward for a long time: I became the top mapper in KU Youth Mappers. That moment felt surreal. From the days when I was just learning how to draw my first building on the map to reaching the top position—it was a journey filled with patience, consistency, and continuous learning. Every late night of mapping, every small correction, and every effort finally felt worth it.
But the journey didn’t stop there.
On October 14, I reached another incredible milestone—I became a top mapper in UN Mappers. This achievement felt even bigger, as it connected my work to a global level. Contributing alongside mappers from around the world and being recognized among them made me realize how far I had come.
These milestones are not just about rankings or titles. They represent growth, dedication, and the impact of consistent effort. From starting out as a beginner to becoming a leading contributor in both university and international communities, my journey has transformed me—not just as a mapper, but as a learner and contributor.
Sometimes I pause and think about how it all started with simple curiosity. And now, those small steps have led to achievements I once never imagined.
This journey reminds me that with passion and persistence, even the smallest edits can lead to the biggest milestones.
A future version of the UrbanEye3D plugin will support trees and other objects.
(Picture: Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary, Zagreb)
Note: this version is still in development, but should be relesed by the end of this month
Hello people, I’ve been Hoping to help my local town of Exeter and nearby plymouth, ive so far made houses in both sherford and torpoint, ive also named the schools of Clyst vale and Stoke hill, And im hoping to do more to help the community of OpenStreetMap
-SouthWestTrains1
Westhay Moor & Honeygar Farm: osm.org/#map=16/51.19215/-2.78186
Shapwick Heath Nature Reserve & RSPB Ham Wall: osm.org/#map=15/51.15109/-2.79207
Hello
I have been using OpenStreetMaps for navigation across the globe for multiple years free of charge. I think the time has come for me to give something back to this community.
Thank you wonderful people at OpenStreetMap for such a wonderful project! I hope my contributions will help.
Kind regards
The Vilnius Stroller
